No. 15 Virginia Clinches Series Against No. 10 North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  – No. 15 Virginia (25-6, 9-5 ACC) registered its second series win against a top-10 opponent with a 7-2 victory over No. 10 North Carolina (25-6, 10-4 ACC) on Friday (April 5) at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers have won three consecutive ACC series against the Tar Heels and eight of the last 10 games.

Starting pitcher Evan Blanco logged his longest outing of his career (6.1 IP) and struck out seven batters, one strikeout shy of the matching his career high. The lefthander fanned four consecutive batters between the second and third innings and scattered seven Tar Heel hits. The quality start was the first of his career and third by a UVA starter this year.

Ethan Anderson blasted two home runs, leadoff long balls in the seventh and eighth innings. He was 3-for-5 and added a double to go along with two RBI. The double was the 51st of his career, moving him into a tie with Kenny Towns (2012-15) for the sixth-most in UVA history. The multi-home run game was Anderson’s second of his career.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Harrison Didawick put UVA on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with a two-out, three-run homer. The long ball was Didawick’s 13th of the season and is one shy of entering UVA’s single-season top-10 list in just 31 games played.

• Spotted a 3-0 lead, Blanco responded by retiring 10 of the next 12 batters, five by way of the strikeout. His only two blemishes on the night were a pair of solo home runs to Vance Honeycutt, one in the third inning and another to lead off the sixth.
• Anderson sparked a three-run rally in the seventh that saw everyone in the lineup come to the plate. A two-RBI single by Casey Saucke gave UVA a 6-2 advantage.

• Anderson put the exclamation point on the night with a solo blast in the eighth that traveled 410-feet over the right field wall. The junior doubled his season home run total to four and the final homer of the night was the 24th of his career.

• Owen Coady earned his first save of the season and sixth of his collegiate career. The lefthander entered in the top of the seventh runners on first and second and the UVA lead at 3-2. He struck out the first batter he faced and induced the inning-ending groundout to strand two runners. His only baserunner was a two-out single in the ninth. He fanned three batters in 2.2 innings and now has nine strikeouts in his last 4.2 innings of relief.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The series victory marks the first time UVA has won two series against a top-10 opponent in the same season since 2011. UVA took two out of three against No. 7 Wake Forest earlier this season. The 2011 Cavaliers won series against three top-10 opponents – then-No. 4 Clemson (3-0), then-No. 4 Florida State (2-1) and then-No. 8 Georgia Tech (2-1).
• Virginia posted runs in the first inning for the second-straight game and the ninth time this season. The Cavaliers are 8-1 when scoring in the first inning. Over the past two seasons, UVA 37-5 when scoring in the first inning.

UP NEXT

Virginia will go for the sweep on Saturday (April 6) in the series finale. The Cavaliers will have righthander Kevin Jaxel (4-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by lefty Shea Sprague (1-1). First pitch on ACCNX is scheduled for 1 p.m.